...a photoBook is an autonomous art form, comparable with a piece of sculpture, a play or a film. The photographs lose their own photographic character as things 'in themselves' and become parts, translated into printing ink, of a dramatic event called a book...
- Dutch photography critic Ralph Prins

vrijdag 29 februari 2008

The street is the workplace of the artist Paulien Oltheten (b. Nijmegen, 1982). Seemingly in passing, she seeks out precisely those moments when there is contact between people, things and the public space with her still and moving viewfinders. She also has a remarkable eye for the small and the subtle: her photos are often profoundly touching.

Street Theory brings together about a hundred photos, video stills and drawings by Oltheten, each of which testifies to how we use, move through, sit, lounge and behave in the public domain, and above all how we relate to other people and objects. Oltheten often annotates these striking images and intriguing situations with handwritten notes that become an integral part of the whole, adding a new, narrative layer of meaning.

Paulien Oltheten's observational acuity and her fascination with human behaviour and photography display a close affinity with the interests of the photographer Hans Aarsman and the behavioural biologist Tijs Goldschmidt, both of whom contribute to this book. In his introduction, Aarsman describes her exceptional way of working. In his essay, Tijs Goldschmidt explores the differences and similarities between his own work and that of Paulien Oltheten.

There are always intriguing things lying around and happening on the street, and there is not a single instant that is structured or preordained, but you have to actually notice it, and that is what Paulien Oltheten so uniquely succeeds in doing.

donderdag 28 februari 2008

In Heimat, his previous collection of photographs published by Hatje Cantz, German photographer Peter Bialobrzeski, born in 1961, gave us pictures of his homeland that showed it as it had never been seen before. Photo International deemed it "one of the most beautiful and significant photography books this year." Even before that, Bialobrzeski's critically acclaimed exploration of the Asian mega-city phenomenon, Neon Tigers, had made him a common topic of debate on the international photography scene. Bialobrzeski's gift is for the portrayal of epic sweep in urban vistas, and of the energies that inhabit and galvanize them. In Lost in Transition the photographer applies his grand vision to the transformation of wasteland areas, many of which are located on the peripheries of cities. The photographs were taken in more than 28 cities (including Hamburg, Dubai, New York, Singapore, New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur) and 14 countries, and trace the transition from old to new, from the familiar to the abstract, from the dilapidated to the renewed. These images are as seductive and sublime as nineteenth-century Romantic paintings, but their apparent beauty is deceptive. As in his earlier works, Bialobrzeski always tests and pushes at the limitations of the documentary image itself.

About the AuthorPeter Bialobrzeski was born in Wolfsburg, Germany, in 1961. He was awarded first prize in the Art category at the prestigious World Press Photo Awards in 2003. His previous books are XXX Holy: Journeys into the Spiritual Heart of India and Neon Tigers.

Lost in Transition, Photographs by Peter Bialobrzeski, Essays by Michael Glasmeier, Reviewed by Ruchi Shukla.

Rapid advances in globalization, urbanization and industrialization have led to a wave of construction projects around the world. In developing economies, land has become the most important asset for the purposes of growth.

The large-scale construction projects being undertaken in major cities around the world transform wastelands into giant factories or residential complexes or restaurants. Instead of being silent spaces, they are being transformed into spaces with noise, light and people.

Across the globe

This same storyline seems to be repeating itself around the world. In his book Lost in Transition, photographer Peter Bialobrzeski i has captured some of these sites from around the world. From Dubai to Germany and from the United States to India, there is a chain of sorts of these massive construction sites.

The photographs have been taken in 28 cities across 14 countries — and it is amazing to see how a similar transformation is happening around the world. We seem to be leaving the comfort of the known and moving towards the unknown — as represented by the empty landscapes around the new buildings.

The art of building has also seemed to change. Shiny steel and glass have taken the place of concrete and plaster. The powerful lights around the buildings seem to be placed as if for a Broadway show, with the building as the highlight of the program. It is almost as if these spaces in transition are works of art in themselves.

A world in transition

Overall, the photography tells the story of a transitioning world economy and, in turn, a transitioning way of life. A brightly lit mall stands right next to the huts of the workers building a place where they might not be able to afford a single item.

Factories spring up in the middle of snow-capped peaks. Futuristic buildings stand among empty landscapes, making them more imposing than their real size would warrant.

Two worlds

Another interesting juxtaposition is that of the new world and the old — or the rich and the poor. In Kuala Lumpur, Peter Bialobrzeski captures a shack with the world-famous Petronas Towers in the background. It is like looking at the two sides of a coin — great development and then the people who have been left behind in the race.

Bialobrzeski’s images tell the story about a time to come. They capture the hope for a brighter future, literally. And like great works of art, they arouse wonder and awe.

About Peter Bialobrzeski

Peter Bialobrzeski is a professor at the Hochschule für Künste, Bremen. He sparked a great deal of interest on the photography scene with his previous books Neon Tigers and Heimat. Neon Tigers was an explorations of Asian mega-cities and won the German Photobook Prize and the Most Beautiful German Book Award.

About Michael Glasmeier

Michael Glasmeier is an essayist, journalist, exhibition curator and professor of art history at the Hochschule für Künste, Bremen. His work deals with the relation of visual art to music, language, film, photography, theater or comedy.

woensdag 27 februari 2008

"Gripped by the 'New Photography', Eva Besnyö(1910-2003) became the reporter of life on the streets: she photographed coalers, dustmen, artists and children not from the waist height, where her 6x6 Rolleiflex hung, but generally from a low camera angle. At other moments she looked down on the shadows on cobbles or dirt tracks from a bird's-eye perspective. Her fascinating images reveal her exceptional eye for detail and design. In the autumn of 1932 the Budapest-born photographer left Berlin for the Netherlands, where she would live for the rest of her life. Through her mother-in-law Charley Toorop she fell in with a circle of avant-garde artists, painters, architects and cinematographers. Eva found her niche among them, primarily through her photographic style, the New Realism which she had mastered in Berlin. Architectural photography and portraits were an important source of income for her. In addition to 'highlights' from her oeuvre that Besnyö herself selected for what she called her 'Choice Collection', this book includes a large number of magnificent, unknown, never before published or exhibited works." (Publishers text)

Family Tree is a project that I started in the autumn of 2003. The last additions for this book were made in the spring of 2007. This is not a book that shows a traditional family tree. It’s a collection of 108 pictures of persons who were important for me during my life. Those persons are part of the way I walked through life. Some of them were part of significant periods of my life others were more or less important for whom I am today. Relevant people who have died before I started this series are not part of the project. People who were valuable during my life but have a reason not to participate to this project are made (in-) visible by a black frame. The Map to My Surroundings is placed on an imaginary time line. By this you can take a look over my shoulder and meet the people belonging to different periods of my life. Those people are the participants of my own social surroundings excluding my family. The Maps to My Father’s- and My Mother’s Surroundings are built up around my parents. The reason to separate them is because they divorced when I was three years old. Hereafter they gave a new direction to their lives that resulted in two different social surroundings. Important for the understanding of The Map to My Father’s Surroundings are his relationships after his marriage with my mother and the social structures around my half-sister. This series ends with his four brothers and four sisters and most important people around them. The Map to My Mother’s Surroundings starts with her farmer ancestors to show our family background that my mother often told me about. Next to that is a construction of related people around her husband, her friends, and her family. The last map has been composed around my own relationship. The people belonging to this series are connected to my girlfriend and me. This map contains a new social structure and shall expand. Finally I can conclude that Family Tree is a self-investigation. The way to connect people by photographs was an understandable manner to get a clear vision of my roots. The overall picture of this project is my autobiographic picture. — Ringel Goslinga

Since 1993 the Chinese government has been working on the Three Gorges Dam in the middle of China. The storage reservoir has forced the evacuation of villages, monuments and whole cities, , forcing up to 1.3 million people to move to cities higher up on the mountainsides, constructed in great haste, shrouded in the resevoir’s near-permanent fog. Niels Stomps’ series of pictures shows life in these new cities. In spite of the hectic way of life in a Chinese city these are stilled images; Stomps has a highly personal capacity for observation. Take note of the astonishing effect of a series of still lives of windows photographed from the inside. See for a Review by 5B4...

The exhibition is all about documentary photos from the past, photos from the time of the Dutch East Indies. These photos were made around 1913 as information material for Dutch class rooms about far away Indonesian archipelago. They cover religion, the populatio n, housing, land, cattle, fishery, hunting, trade (industry), handicrafts and culture.

The photos are ascribed to Jean Demmeni (1866-1939) . They not only serve as interesting data. The photos are special because of the perceptiveness and diligence of the photographer. When seeing them people often wonder what happened afterwards to the place or object that was once captured.

The usefulness of old documentary photos is beyond question. Photos that were made during colonial and post colonial times, like many other things, are very useful for future purposes.

When seeing the photos now, however, we have to realize that the images and messages were made by and for a system that is quite different from nowadays. How should we see these pictures that were made for purposes that are no longer relevant? What role can these old pictures play in a new context?Should these photos only be seen as artifacts or just data?

Everyone is invited to see this important and interesting exhibition to learn more about Indonesia in the past.

See also Kleynenberg Schoolplaten photography of the Dutch East & West Indies :

Thousands of pupils in Dutch secondary schools have seen educational prints from the series Platen van Nederlandsch Oost- en West Indië, published by Kleynenberg & Co. in Haarlem between 1911 and 1913. The series consists of 171 large wall hung pictures, beautifully printed from black and white photographs. They hung in classrooms until the 1940s. A number of the photographs were made by photographer Jean Demmeni.Jean Demmeni was born at Padang-Panjang in West Sumatra, son of a French father and Indo-European mother. His father served in the Dutch East Indian army. He fought in the 18705 in Aceh, rising to the rank of Major-General. Following his father's footsteps, Jean Demmeni also entered the army in the East Indies. He was assigned to the Topographic Service in Bandung. In addition to his talents as a marksman and a surveyor, he was also a photographer.

zondag 24 februari 2008

The Lausanne photographer Henriette Grindat (1923-1986) had a special affinity with the Mediterranean. She repeatedly travelled to the country and cities situated around the sea that connects people from various cultures and parts of the world and has influenced their history for thousands of years. But Grindat was not primarily interested in journalistic reportages and portraits of countries. Spain or Egypt, Italy or Algeria: she was less concerned with contemporary history than with the secrets of matter and light – and most particularly of water in all its sensuous and metaphorical aspects. Her bewitching photographic lyricism also emerges as an existential search for meaning. "Méditerranées" is dedicated to a central aspect of Grindat's work, which was also published in several books in the Lausanne series "Guilde du livre" in the 1950s and 60s. In the exhibition special attention is paid to this large-format pubishing project, which provided an important platform for many post-war photographers.

dinsdag 19 februari 2008

The photographic genre of the portrait was of particular significance in may works considering folklore studies published in in the second half of th 1930s. In spme cases the role of the photographer was equated with that of the author. Both the author Roel Houwink and the photographer Hans Gilberg signed the foreword to a 1935 book, Verdwijnend Volk, devoted to 'the peasant type ... that is in the process of disappearing frpm society', while 'it has been of special significance tp the make-up of the Dutch national character. For each of the thirty chapters, the author chose one photograph as the starting point, occasionally projecting himself into the interaction between subject and photographer. In the chapter on 'The cunning farmer', for example, he wrote : 'A farmer can handle a horse and cart, butt in front of the photographer's lens he forgets this and his gaze takes on a shy watchfulness, like an animal that senses the barrel of a gun aimed at it'. In contrast to conventional portrait photography, all these portraits were taken outdoors in the available light and are characterised by a great degree of directness. The importance of the photographic technique employed is underscored by an explanatory note on the last page, where we read that the photographs were made in 1933 without a tripod, using a leica fitted with an objective lens with a long focal length. As well as exposure times, the note mentions the coarse grain of one particular shot taken with panchromatic film.

maandag 18 februari 2008

SHANGHAI, CHINA.-M97 Gallery announced "Shanghai: 1990-1993," a solo photography exhibition by Dutch photographer Robert van der Hilst. The exhibition runs from February 16 to March 21, 2008.

Robert van der Hilst's color Kodachrome photographs from "Shanghai: 1990-1993" captures the early roots of this large metropolis as it readies itself for the great thrust forward towards modernization. Bringing a strong sense of color and composition to his work in the streets of Shanghai, Robert's work, now viewed some 18 years later, brings a sense of historical reflection after the past two decades of breakneck development in China's financial capital. His subjects and sceneries are at once both familiar and foreign to the viewer. The subtleties and textures of the photographs, as well as the overall appearance of the city and its people are captured by the Dutch photographer as he first encounters a city poised on the edge of a newfound greatness. First traveling to Shanghai in 1990 on assignment for Vogue Magazine to feature a reportage of the city, Robert became fascinated by his first encounter with China and later made a total of seven trips to Shanghai in the course of three years. Robert van der Hilst lives in Shanghai and Paris, and is currently working on a large-scale photography project titled "Chinese Interiors". He has worked as a photographer in Europe, South Africa and North America and his monograph "The Cubans" was published in 2001.

Robert van der Hilst (1940) is a Dutch photographer, who graduated from the Fotovakschool when he was 19 and who left his native country when he was 20. He lived in North America for 13 years and calls Paris his home since 1979. Best known for the many photographic essays he carried out for many international magazines, he has mainly concentrated on photographing ‘interiors’ since 2001. Thus he spent two months photographing Cuban Interiors in 2001 and in 2002 photographed Cuban families in their homes in Miami/USA. Since 2004 Van der Hilst has been working on his Chinese Interiors series and is represented by HUP Photography Gallery in Amsterdam.

There is a scene in Monty Python's Life of Brian where the eponymous hero addresses a vast crowd of devoted followers who have mistaken him for the Messiah. 'You are all individuals,' he shouts. 'Yes,' they reply with one voice. 'We are all individuals.'

It is the sort of joke that delights Dutch photographer Ari Versluis, who has spent the last 14 years documenting the disconnection between our human desire to feel unique while also belonging to a greater whole. Since 1994, he and his stylist, Ellie Uyttenbroek, have travelled the world seeking to document the dress codes of different social and cultural groups. What they discovered was a series of modern fashion tribes - people who dress the same, often without even realising it.

In Beijing, they found students wearing brightly coloured tracksuits and double-strapped rucksacks. In Bordeaux, they photographed a series of housewives in the same subconscious uniform of dreary beige dresses carrying capacious handbags. In Rotterdam, it was young men in graphic-print hooded tops, each one posing with the same slouched shoulders and sulky stares. In Praia, Cape Verde, they sought out the elderly men with flat caps and high-waisted trousers who looked like extras from Buena Vista Social Club

According to Wim van Sinderen, senior curator of the Museum of Photography in the Hague, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide 'an almost scientific, anthropological record of people's attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity.'

Now they are training their forensic sights on the UK for the first time. From 26 February, Exactitudes, a collection of their intricate collages of 12 individual images, will be displayed at Selfridges in central London. Over the course of three weeks, they also hope to interpret the city's dress codes by scouting shoppers and photographing them.

'The English invented fashion in a tribal way,' says Versluis. 'The groups I hope to photograph in London include a certain type of businesswoman, wearing all grey, which we don't see on the Continent so much. Then there's a lot of nu-rave going on, young kids wearing fluorescent things. It's a generation that likes to be really visible in clothes. Then you also have the liberated Islamic women who are very fashionable and very pretty in their scarves, with beautiful make-up.'

Tokyo, he says, has been the most self-consciously fashionable city so far. 'There, they wear things without the connotations we have in the West; they are free from that link with the past. I would wear a Clash T-shirt because I remember the band, because I know what came before and after. They wear it just because they like the T-shirt.'

Do his subjects ever feel taken aback when they realise that they are dressing like other people? 'Deep down, even when they feel like an individual, they know that fashion is a language and they want to be able to speak it well. Most people know exactly what they're doing.

'But there are also the groups, like the Bordeaux housewives, who, when we ask them to be photographed think, "Why are you interested in me?" Then you explain and they suddenly realise that they have subconsciously been copying the women of the same age they see around them.

'That applies to photographers too,' he says, laughing. 'They all used to dress in a similar way, with jackets full of pockets, but I tend to be a chameleon. When I'm photographing various groups of people, I dress like them, to fit into the location I'm in.'

Photography in books has not only influenced collectors and curators, but also generations of photographers. Since Robert Frank published his Les Américains in 1958, the photobook is a source for artistic inspiration and creative reference.

As a homage to the photobook per se the exhibition Marks Of Honour – A Striking Library has been created in a cooperation between Amsterdam galerist Willem van Zoetendaal and Cologne bookseller Markus Schaden. They have invited 45 international photographers to choose a photobook which was influential to the formation of their work, and to pay it artistical homage. The resulting works will be shown in Amsterdam between May 10th and 21st.

All participating works (limited to five copies, each containing the original photobook and it´s complentary homage) offer a wide spectrum that´s often surprising in detail: Martin Parr has chosen Arakis Banquet, Koos Breukel has chosen Ed van der Elsken, Todd Hido will comment on Susan Sontags On Photography. In sum Marks Of Honour constitutes a singular library and a system of reference on the most sustainable influences as much as the freshest in contemporary photography.

„But who says that a museums fundus should entirely consist of photographic prints? You could start with books all the same... With a pool of a hundred photobooks, one could ensure that the history of modern photoworks of art is recognizable for the museumcrowd, for specialists, consultants and curators in excellent examples.“ Ulf Erdmann Ziegler

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